High school teen hospitalized after fight, now charged with assault

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

HENRICO, Va. -- A Highland Springs High School student beaten so badly that he was hospitalized for weeks has been charged with assault.

Henrico Police said he and another teen student have been charged with assault.

The student’s mother, Mary Martin, admitted her son hit another student first. But, she said, she was convinced he did it because he was being bullied and called disparaging names. After her son lashed out, she said other students jumped in and severely beat her son.

“If he hit someone, it’s because he was being bullied. I’m not saying it’s OK to hit anyone, but he was pushed to the max,” Martin explained.

He suffered a broken arm, a concussion and now has some brain swelling.

The mother says the fight stemmed from bullying. Martin said the incident happened during the school day and, to her knowledge, her son’s art teacher was inside the classroom at the time. She said the teacher was unable to break-up the fight.

Henrico County Schools spokesperson Andy Jenks released a statement on the issue when it happened, in early September:

“We take very seriously the safety and security of our students, and we are investigating this incident. As always, school divisions are very limited in what information can be made publicly available. Any of our students who are determined to be responsible will be dealt with according to our established disciplinary policies and procedures.”

8 comments

Jay

He hit the boy first so he got his a$$ whipped. I heard some people talking about this in the barber shop and they said that this kid and the other kid was arguing and he hit the other kid first and got his a$$ kicked so now the mother want to say he was being bullied. Then why did he get arrested for assult as well if he was being bullied???

Herbert what mental hospital let you out? Are you serious? I can’t believe that something that dumb came out your mouth. What you fail to realize no what you don’t want to admit is that those black children know how to be young women & men without letting people like you bring them down. It was a white boy that got his tail whip so therefore it was a white boy that had the misbehavior problem. Herbert take your medcine and take a long needed nap.